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Abuse Continues in Iraqi Detention Centers

By TChris, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 07:55:32 AM EST
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by TChris

Every U.S. inspection of a detention center in Iraq between November and February yielded evidence of prisoner abuse. Severe abuse was uncovered at two centers. Despite last November's pledge by Gen. Peter Pace that troops would stop inhumane treatment if they saw it -- a pledge that prompted some jousting between Pace and Rumsfeld about the duty to "report" abuse (Rumsfeld's view) versus the duty to "stop" abuse (Pace's view) -- the military hasn't taken consistent action to protect the abused prisoners.

Instead, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials, only a handful of the most severely abused detainees at a single site were removed for medical treatment. Prisoners at two other sites were removed to alleviate overcrowding. U.S. and Iraqi authorities left the rest where they were. This practice of leaving the detainees in place has raised concerns that detainees now face additional threats.

According to Washington Post interviews, one Iraqi official involved in the inspections suspects that the U.S. doesn't want to publicize evidence that Iraq's Interior Ministry is actively involved in the mistreatment of detainees, for fear of further destabilizing a fragile government.

According to the Iraqi official, the Americans initially said they would suspend their policy of removing prisoners from sites where abuse was found until after Iraq's national elections, which were held Dec. 15, because disclosures of Interior Ministry abuses were politically sensitive. The elections came and went, the official said, and the Americans continued leaving detainees at sites that held bruised, burned and limping prisoners.

Perhaps this "see no evil" attitude explains why "Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the main U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, broadly denied in remarks to U.S. reporters in Baghdad that any abuse had been found at any of the centers since the initial raid on Nov. 13." His account differs from information provided by those who actually conducted the inspections.

[Lt. Col. Kevin] Curry's statement confirmed abuse depicted in accounts and photographs given earlier to The Washington Post by the U.S. and Iraqi officials involved in the inspections, including the dislocated shoulders that the officials said were caused by hanging detainees from ceilings.

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    Abuse Continues in Iraqi Detention Centers | 1 comment (1 topical)
    Re: Abuse Continues in Iraqi Detention Centers (none / 0) (#1)
    by scribe on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 09:28:01 AM EST
    Why should we be surprised, or even shocked, when the US command in Baghdad can't find evidence of the mistreatment of prisoners? To rephrase Mencken (I think): no one is less susceptible to being led to understanding as the man whose paycheck depends upon not understanding. And Rumdum's and his' paychecks surely depend on being without understanding. The rot infected the command from the top, and nothing has been done to stem the raging infection. Rather, Rumdum, acts like the good pharma executive he was. He prescribes the minimally-palliative drug which will continue the patient's dependency on the drug, but surely not cure the disease. If the disease were to be cured, there would be no further opportunity to sell the drug. Rumdum's continued insistence on "report" and on publicly (and humiliatingly) contradicting his subordinate Pace, when Pace said "stop it" shows the vague, rule-free environment into which Rumdum has condemned the soldiers subordinate to him. No rules, no responsibility, no accountability. And, if one stands up for higher standards which have served well in the past, one should be prepared to be humiliated. Let's be clear, though. The purpose of the invasion was nothing more than to secure a foothold in the Middle East to give the US a reason to muck around in the local politics there and try to corner some or all of the region's oil for itself. It pays Rumdum and his to keep a fire roiling the pot of local MidEast politics, because so long as they are fighting each other over some sectarian issue, they cannot combine to make, for example, OPEC the unifying force and center of power it (once was and yet again) could be. Furthering (or not hindering) mistreatment of captives - I hate the word "detainees" as it implies some legitimacy to their captivity - serves the end of stirring the pot and keeping them fighting each other and us, and gives a reason to keep us there. And no, I don't think there was any mistake in putting in charge at Abu Ghraib the redneck reserve MPs, represented by Graner, Englund, and all the rest who went on to torture. There's two places things do not "just happen" - the Army and a jail. Rumdum's subordinates knew, or should have known, which unit was worst trained, disciplined and manned. That they selected that unit to go to Abu Ghraib was no accident.

    Abuse Continues in Iraqi Detention Centers | 1 comment (1 topical)